Victory of overcoming! After a first half well below par, Flamengo came back with a different attitude for the second half and beat Corinthians 2-1, on Sunday night (28), at Neo Química Arena, in the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. Rubro-Negro started the second half conceding a goal from Yuri Alberto in the first minute, but reacted quickly with Arrascaeta. In the final minutes, Luiz Araújo came off the bench to give Mengão the victory.

With another triumph, Mais Querido added 54 points and further isolated itself at the top of the championship. Next Thursday (2), Robro-Negro faces Cruzeiro, at Maracanã, in a duel that promises strong emotions, as the Minas Gerais team is the vice-leader of the competition.  

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The game

The opening minutes of the match saw Corinthians attacking and holding possession for longer. Flamengo, in turn, pushed up their lines to pressure the São Paulo team's possession. In the eleventh minute, the referee awarded a penalty by Léo Pereira on Bidon. Yuri Alberto stepped up to take the shot, chipped it, and Rossi saved it. Another save by the Flamengo goalkeeper. 

After the missed penalty, Corinthians continued to gain the upper hand, and in the 25th minute, Yuri Alberto found himself one-on-one with Rossi. Once again, the Mengão goalkeeper was decisive, preventing a Corinthians goal. When Flamengo had possession, they made numerous passing errors and struggled to enter the opponent's box. 

In the final minutes of the first half, the red-and-black team showed a slight improvement and began to have more possession in the attacking half. In the 44th minute, Samuel Lino received the ball at the edge of the box and found himself facing goal. João Pedro blocked the shot, and the ball went out for a corner. In stoppage time, Bruno Henrique passed to Royal on the right side of the box, and he fired a first-time shot over the bar. The teams went into halftime with the score tied, but Corinthians had the best chances. 

Flamengo returned for the second half with two changes: Danilo replaced Léo Pereira and Alex Sandro replaced Viña. But it was Corinthians who opened the scoring within a minute. Yuri Alberto received the ball at speed, burst into the box, and fired into the corner to make it 1-0. 

The Corinthians fans didn't have time to celebrate the goal, because Mengão leveled the score immediately afterward. Carrascal, inside the box, passed to Arrascaeta, who controlled the ball with little space and fired it into Hugo's left corner: 1-1. With the equalizer, the red-and-black team grew in the match and continued to push forward. In the 14th minute, Carrascal collected the rebound at the edge of the box and struck hard. The ball sailed just wide of the right post. Hugo. 

On a counterattack led by Bruno Henrique, the striker beat his marker well and sent a low cross into the middle of the box. Arrascaeta tried to deflect the ball but couldn't reach it. The number 27 then gave way to Plata. Shortly after, Jorginho came on for De La Cruz. 

In the final stretch, Flamengo maintained possession in the attacking half, looking for the winning goal. And the breakthrough came in the 41st minute! Plata quickly took the throw-in, Carrascal advanced through the middle and passed to Luiz Araújo on the left. The new No. 7, who had just come on, fired a first-time shot, leaving Hugo with no chance: 2-1. 

In injury time, Mengão managed to hold off Corinthians and left the field with a very important victory to further isolate itself at the top of the Brasileirão with 54 points, opening up a four-point lead over Cruzeiro, in second place. 

Flamengo

Rossi; Emerson Royal, Leo Ortiz, Leo Pereira (Danilo) and Viña (Alex Sandro); De La Cruz (Jorginho), Saul and Arrascaeta; Carrascal, Samuel Lino and Bruno Henrique (Plata). 
Coach: Filipe Luís. 

Corinthians

Hugo Souza; Matheuzinho, João Pedro (Cacá), Gustavo Henrique and Matheus Bidu; Raniele, José Martinez (Angileri), Maycon (Ryan) and Breno Bidon (Vitinho); Gui Negão (Talles Magno) and Yuri Alberto.
Coach: Dorival Junior. 

Week's agenda

Rubro-Negro returns to the field next Thursday (2) to face Cruzeiro, at 20:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the 26th round of the Brasileirão.

Technical sheet

Corinthians 1x2 Flamengo – Brazilian Championship | 25th Round
Location: Neo Química Arena, São Paulo
Date and time: 28/09/2025 at 20:30 am
Refereeing: Wilton Pereira Sampaio (GO), Bruno Raphael Pires (GO) and Bruno Boschilia (PR)
Yellow cards: Gustavo Henrique (COR), Yuri Alberto (COR), Alex Sandro (FLA), Matheus Bidu (COR), Danilo (FLA), Carrascal (FLA), Jorginho (FLA) and Saúl (FLA)
Goals: Yuri Alberto (1'2nd half), Arrascaeta (9'2nd half) and Luiz Araújo (41'2nd half).